Turnabout Promises
by Iced Perfection
Summary: When a bride's twin sister is murdered on her wedding night, she is the first to be blamed for the murder. As the case unfolds, a shocking conclusion is made that pulls Apollo in, even though it isn't his case. The question is, then, who's the guilty one?
1. A Memorable Midsummer's Evening

This is my first attempt at writing Phoenix Wright/Apollo Justice fanfiction, and I have to say, it truly is a challenge. Especially because of my characters…they're so confusing. It'll be clearer later, but for the moment even I'm getting lost. I wouldn't be surprised if I find out I'm confusing Chël for Noë in the end…

But enough with my complaints.

I really hope everyone who reads this likes it and doesn't get too confused by my writing style. I'll try to make it easy, I promise.

The first part is in present tense, but from the second section on (except for maybe flashbacks), it'll be past tense.

--

_Date: ??_

_Time: ??_

_Location: ??_

"You…You're always getting in my way!" hisses a woman, hands tightly clenched in fists. She lets her anger get to her easily, and isn't about to let this ruin her evening.

"I'm not letting you get away with this!" The other girl—younger, more naïve—is close to tears—from fear or anger; hard to tell.

"With what? This affair? I don't think your dear husband would mind. After all, he chose me over you. I think that says something about you, doesn't it?" The woman says cynically, laughing.

"What are you talking about? He wouldn't cheat on me!" The woman's statement sends shivers down the girl's back, as does the laugh.

"I think he would." The woman's smile turns to a cruel smirk.

"That's not what I'm talking about. You want to kill Apollo! I know you do!" The girl finds herself nearly screaming at the woman across from her.

"Keep it down, Chël. He won't be the only one dead if you keep this up." She starts to get nervous, suddenly realizing that someone could hear the words not meant for any others' ears but their own.

"You wouldn't—" the girl starts, but chokes on her own words.

"I think I would." The smirk returns.

"Wait, Chël? I…" Confusion?

"Why so quiet? Have you accepted your fate and realized that no one truly loves you?" The laugh's return follows the smirk, though quiet enough to not attract any more attention than was already drawn.

"Someone—somewhere—does love me! I just don't know who!" More tears, and more confusion. The girl has little idea of what is going on—or what is to come.

"Stop your crying! Someone will hear!" She steps forward and slaps the girl harshly across the face to quiet her, knocking her to the ground, though it does little to quell the tears.

"Hey, are you two done over there?" A new voice, male, sounds from across the lawn, up from where he had just been talking with the woman.

"Quiet—we're almost finished." Turning back to her victim, the woman towers over the crouching figure below her. She reaches behind her, and, finding only a vase of flowers, acts before she can think any more.

_WHAM._

The impact shatters the vase, a shower of petals raining down about them. The girl falls backward—backward into the pool behind her, landing with a splash. She sinks slowly to the bottom, face up, floating just below the surface, unconscious. But not for long…

--

_7 June, 5:46 PM_

_Local Church_

_Chapel_

"It's about time for the ceremony to start, isn't it?" Apollo checked his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, and it wasn't even dark yet. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Polly! I'm sure Noë's just having problems with her dress…or something like that." Trucy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Though she did say it started at five-thirty…I wonder what's keeping her?"

"One, don't call me that. Two, I don't care what the reason is; I just want to get out of here," Apollo grumbled, sinking into his seat facing the elaborately decorated altar in the front of the church, his brown, antennae-like hair drooping with his slouching posture. He tried to backtrack and remember how he'd gotten to be there in the first place…

Oh, right. Mir.

Mir Owe was one of Apollo's best friends—strictly business, of course. Once Apollo had taken over Gavin Law Offices (renaming it Justice Law & Co. because Trucy demanded a change), he had taken on an apprentice—just like Mr. Gavin had done for him so many years before. Recently, Mir had gotten engaged, and so had his fiancée's twin sister, who the wedding was for today. That was pretty much why Apollo had even shown up—Mir had been subjected to so many of Trucy's magic shows (though he claimed to like them, Apollo wasn't so sure. The magic panties act got old kind of quickly, in his opinion) that Apollo's guilt had forced him to accept the invitation. Trucy had been more than happy to go, and had been the one who pushed him in the first place.

But here he was, sitting in this…_bedecked _church that he thought he'd never get out of. He would have much rather have been at his desk, re-reading the cases that he was considering taking for Mir, who he felt needed much more experience in court before flying on his own.

"Hey, do you see Mir anywhere, Polly?"

"_Don't call me that!_"

"Sorry…_Apollo_," Trucy replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, which was unlike the cheerful, upbeat little girl Apollo had met so long ago. She had changed so much since then, and he blamed it on all those cases he'd taken, the ones that had created scars of sorts that would probably never heal, though neither of them would admit it. Her own brown hair bounced as she looked around the chapel, scanning the crowd for Mir—she'd had it curled especially for the occasion, which she'd never done before. It was new, and refreshing; even she admitted it made her feel more optimistic than usual. "Don't you find it weird that Chël isn't here? I mean, she _is_ Mir's girl."

"Maybe she's busy, like most people on a Friday night. Why'd they chose a Friday night, anyway?"

"Because the chapel wasn't free any other night, Apollo. I would think that Pahca would have wanted it on a Saturday, otherwise." Mir suddenly appeared at Apollo's side, startling him.

"Mir!" Trucy exclaimed, suddenly twice as excited as she'd been before, much to Apollo's slight annoyance. "Where've you been?"

"I had to take care of business; Chël wasn't feeling good, so I took her home. Plus, I was writing something up that I would've forgotten, otherwise." Mir gave a small smile. "How are things here? Didn't it start at half-past?"

"It should've, but didn't." Apollo was back to grumbling, complaining as always, a sharp contrast to Trucy's prevailing bright and cheery attitude.

"Hmm. I wonder what's taking so long?" Mir turned toward the front of the church, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and thought.

The doors at the rear of the chapel suddenly burst open, a trio of police officers dashing in and cutting through to behind the front, where Apollo knew everyone was getting ready—or not. They were sure in for a surprise…

A roaring murmur rose above the crowd of guests, each wondering what was going on and formulating their own explanations and theories.

When the police returned a few minutes later, hurrying back through the chapel toward the doors they entered through, the ones that would take them to the parking lot. They came in quickly, got what they came for, and were leaving rather quickly, too. They knew what they had come for, and they'd found it right away—arms clutched by two police officers, hands handcuffed together, was the girl whose face they'd seen in so many photographs presented to them by Mir, of both his fiancé and her twin sister. While neither Apollo nor Trucy could figure out which girl it was initially, the poufy white wedding dress immediately gave her identity away.

Mir let out a soft, low gasp. "Noë!"


	2. So Much For My Happy Ending

I'm so sorry I haven't been as attentive to this as I'd like…it really is a fascinating story that I'd like to get out there that I thought of, but just haven't found the time. Plus I have some new distractions that keep me from my writing…and something called "school." Any ideas, comments, criticisms, etc, are welcome. I'm always open for new ideas and twists—anything helps! Just let me know if you think I'm on the right track with this. (Hah…ha…"right"…No pun intended, of course…)

----

_7 June, 11:47 PM  
City Jail  
Visiting Room 3_

"Noë, we'll get you out of here—I promise." The glass that separated the two was the only thing holding Mir back from reaching out and hugging his fiancée's twin sister, who was currently in a state of shock and distress.

"Y-you will? Oh, Mir…" To be honest, Noë looked nothing like she had just hours before—pristine white wedding gown made of a shimmering material that floated around her form, hugging all the right places, makeup done just right, hair pulled back into a bun with just a few pieces loosely framing her face—since after she'd been arrested she'd turned into a nervous wreck. She was still in her wedding gown—her veil was still hanging on by the comb that looked ready to fall out without warning at any moment—but her makeup was ruined, as was her hair, by her distress. The makeup that her bridesmaids had helped her apply was now ruined: her mascara was streaking, lipstick stains dotted her gloves, the blush was blotched: everything seemed to be going so wrong on a day that should have been her most memorable.

Oh, it'd be memorable, all right—but not like it was intended to be.

"Mir, what am I going to do?" Noë's eyes were glassed over with tears, and Mir felt a pang of guilt when he realized he really didn't know what to do next. Apollo and Trucy were usually the ones who handled the clients like this: he just did the paperwork and parts of the trial with them. He wasn't ready for any of this…

"We'll take it from here, Mir." Mir suddenly felt the reassuring hands on his shoulder that told him he could go. He felt somewhat relieved, but at the same time, he was disappointed in himself for not trying to step up. "Trucy and I will take care of this case."

"Oh, would you?" Noë smiled slightly, a ray of hope shining through the clouds clouding the sun. "Can you get me out of here?"

"We'll do the best we can, Miss Belle," Trucy said, smiling as well.

"Please—call me Noë," Noë said in return. If there hadn't been glass between them, Noë would have certainly hugged one—or both—of them at that moment. Her face fell, though, when she realized something. "But…how can you defend me if I don't even know what I've done?"

"You don't know what you're in for?" Apollo gave his new client an odd look. "They didn't tell you?"

Noë shook her head. "No. I was, quite literally, thrown into an empty cell here when I arrived. They didn't say anything to me on the way or after I got here."

Apollo sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, was it? "I think it has something to do with a murder, but…"

"Oh, come on, Polly—you know that's all we're hired for! It's always murder." Trucy gave Apollo a knowing grin, though her words were true.

"I know…"

The door to the visiting room suddenly swung open, and Apollo, upon seeing who it was, groaned. _I thought I'd seen the last of him…!_

"Fräulein Belle…it seems you are in the center of attention once more and could easily find yourself walking more than just the aisle in the church…"

The blond hair, the dazzling smile—before he had even spoken, Apollo had gotten the sinking feeling in his stomach, one he recognized as from even when he had first faced his "rival," as Trucy liked to put it, Klavier Gavin. "Hello, Klavier," Apollo greeted, little enthusiasm present in his voice.

"Herr Forehead—you do not seem happy to see me. Are you perhaps not satisfied with the current arrangements?" Klavier's smile made Apollo flush slightly.

"It's not that…" Apollo began, but was cut off by Klavier's motion for him to be silent, holding up a folder that he guessed was what held the current situation's summary.

"Do you not wish to know what it is that Fräulein Belle is being held for?"

Apollo remained silent—he _did_, of course, want to know what was going on, as did everyone else in the now-cramped room.

Klavier opened the folder and removed a single piece of single-spaced print. "Ms. Noë Belle is held on the charge of second-degree murder of her sister, Ms. Chël Belle. The cause of death is blunt trauma force to the head, causing unconsciousness, leading to the eventual drowning in the pool located in the rear of the church where Ms. Noë Belle was holding a wedding service. Exact time of death is currently unknown, but is estimated to be before the wedding. Current witness count is up to four persons of interest. Court specifics are yet to be confirmed, but the first date will be no later than 11 June. Until then, Ms. Noë Belle is to be held in custody of the city. Prosecution: Klavier Gavin. Defense: To be decided." Klavier looked back up to the waiting crowd before him, silence following his short yet condemning speech. "Are there any questions?"

"Like hell there aren't!" Mir yelled. "Noë would _never_ murder her own sister! That's crazy!" He paused, suddenly realizing what Klavier was telling him and what he had just said. "Wait, you're telling me that Chël…_my_ Chëlly…is…_dead_?" His voice was barely above a whisper by the end of his sentence, his eyes glassing over slightly as he slumped back into the chair that he had sat in before leaping up at Klavier's entrance.

"I am sorry for your loss, Herr…?"

"Owe. I work for Apollo here…I'm—well, _was_, by this point—Chël's fiancé." Mir's voice suddenly held a bitter edge to it, like he wasn't sure who to blame for his loss.

"Herr Owe, I express my sympathies; however, it is still true that Fräulein Belle has been accused by murder."

"Wait, doesn't this all need another side to it?" Apollo suddenly interjected. "Doesn't someone have to be the opposition here?"

"The prosecution's client is one of Fräulein Belle's own bridesmaids—her name is Alice Konner." Klavier shrugged. "She is the one who reported to the police and brought them to the church. She also has the most evidence against her."

"A-Alice?" Noë squeaked, voice cracking. "Why would she do something like this to me? She's one of my best friends!"

"She merely wants justice, as do I." Klavier gave a curt bow to the group, as the space did not allow for much movement. "I must take my leave to prepare for the first date, whenever it is decided—ask the man at the front desk for a copy of the file, and he will give it to you. Other than that, you are on your own. I wish you luck, Herr Forehead. I will see you in court, then, ja?" He exited, giving a small wave to Apollo as he did so, leaving the young defense attorney standing in a state of perplexity.

"…Trucy?"

"Yes, Polly?"

"…One, stop calling me that. Two, what the _hell_ are we going to do about this case?"


End file.
